It's was the best because of the quality of workmanship, it's lightweight design and it's sterling ability to keep your clothes crease and wrinkle free. The price was high, though not the highest, and while you need to be a serious traveler to warrant spending so much on it we couldn't deny that it simply was the best carry on garment luggage.

It wonbecause:

It fits under 22 x 14 x 9 inches (okay it's 0.25 inches too deep)

It has a kick ass Briggs & Riley Lifetime warranty.

It was one of the lightest wheeled carry on garment bags we tested.

Suits and shirts survived with minimal wrinkles and creasing.

I selected a rolling carry on garment bag partly against my personal better judgement. I like to carry my carry on but I am aware that this doesn't suit most people.

Briggs & Riley Baseline Upright

Here's What We're Going To Be ﻿Covering ﻿In This Guide

In terms of size we learned that you will probably need to fold (or roll) your garment so that it fits within the airline carry on size limits but American Airlines are pretty good with garment bags as you can have a bag 51 inches long.

There are a few categories of carry on garment bags and each has their pros and cons.

Of course you could just wear your suit, or your wedding dress, or your kilt on the plane and have the added bonus of being the best dressed passenger onboard.

I bet you never thought of that did you!

In the end... Richard found taking his kilt on the plane was pretty simple...

Joking aside (even though I'm half serious), if you are like most people you're going to want to pack your highfalutin, fancy clothes in some form of a carry on garment bag.

Fear not we've got you covered. In this post we'll show you:

The Best Rolling Carry On Garment Bags

The Best Tri-Fold Carry On Garment Bags

The Best Duffel or Hybrid Carry On Garment Bags

The Airline Carry On Garment Bag Size Restrictions

Any airlines with special dispensations for carry on garment bags

What do you ﻿want ﻿to see?

Click a button below to quickly jump to the section you want or read on...​

What Are The Carry On ﻿﻿Garment﻿﻿ Bag Restrictions?

Occasionally some airlines have special dispensations for garment bags but most make no mention of garment bags specifically.

A standard unfolded garment bag like the one in the photo is going to be too large so you're gonna need to come up with a plan...

Take it from Kenny Rogers:

Kenny RogersTux Wearer and Frequent Flier

You've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em...

When you're flying with carry on garments like a Tuxedo that you want to keep fresh... you've got to fold them.​

Okay I might made some of that up... but Kenny's timeless gambling advice can equally be applied to carry on luggage because when it comes to taking special garments on the plane... well... you've usually got to fold them!

TOP TIPS FOR CARRYING ON GARMENTS

2 Bags: If you only have 1 or 2 items and can fold your garment bag you might get away with taking it as your second personal item as well as a normal carry on suitcase. Pay special attention to any 2nd item size limits. But if you have a lot of garments you're probably going to need to forgo the carry on suitcase and take a dedicated carry on garment bag.

Ask About The Closet: Planes sometimes have a closet that is available for storage of mobility aids, wheel chairs, walking frames etc. If you ask the flight attendant they may be able to hang your garment bag in the closet for the duration of the flight. This should help keep creasing ​down to a minimum. Note: They will only do this if there is space available. The priority will always be for mobility aids and you must be prepared to fold your garment bag and put it in the overhead locker.​

If you can fold your bag to less than 22 x 14 x 9 inches then it's probably going to be ok.

We checked out a few airlines to see if they say anything about garment bags:

How Did We Test?

Each bag was tested for durability and fitness for purpose. We consulted various professional travelers as well as trawled the net looking for any reported problems with the products.

While manufacturers are pretty good in general at creating bags to fit airline carry on size limits they are terrible when it comes to garment bags!

This means the you need to be extra cautious when buying a "carry on" garment bag because if you're not careful there is a strong possibility that the bag you buy will be too big.

Bi-fold garment bags were discounted because they are all too large.

As a rule of thumb if the bag looks square then it's probably Bi-fold and too large.

Also any bag that didn't at least come close to 21x14x9 inches was not considered. We did include some bags that were slightly over because most people report travelling with them without problems.

If we included a bag that was ever so slightly too large it is noted in the review. Any bag that was over-sized could not win our top pick but given the low numbers of carry on garment bags it would have been remiss to ignore them altogether.​

Most people buy a garment bag because they want to avoid creasing so assessing how clothes held up to long periods in the bags was a top priority.​ Any bags that resulted in excessive creasing were eliminated.

Briggs & Riley Baseline Baseline Carry-On Garment Bag Review

Manufacturers have usually opted for a wide landscape design for garment bags and this makes them difficult to fit down the airplane aisle and through narrow spaces.

The width of the Baseline Upright means it drives just like a normal carry on yet is still has the special features for caring for suits, dresses and garments.

They have essentially opted for a fold out Tri-Fold bag inside a regular sized wheeled carry on.​ It's dimensions mean they are making full use of the available carry on volume whereas some Tri-Fold bags are smaller and mean volume is wasted.

And at 9 lbs it's also one of the lightest wheeled carry on garment bags.

The actual real world measurements are 21.9" tall, by 13.9" wide, by 9.25"​ (Note: Real world measurements are frequently different from manufacturers measurements... they must have different measuring tapes than the rest of us!)

This means it's about a quarter of an inch too deep but that's pretty good and I would be extremely surprised if you ran in to any check in problems in America.

Internationally weight and size might be an issue. For example... if the case is 9 lbs and your flying in Asia where the weight limit is commonly 15 lbs then you've only got 6lbs for your stuff!

Check the weight and size limits of the airlines you plan to travel with and do the math!

Travelpro Crew 10 Carry On Rolling Garment ﻿Bag Review

The Travelpro Crew 10 is advertised as conforming to the 22x14x9 inch size limit that is common to airlines in the usa.

Unfortunately the reality is that it's higher than 14 inches and when you include wheels and the handle it's closer to 16 inches.

This prevented the Crew 10 from winning our top pick.​

It's 10 lbs so if you are travelling internationally it's going to use up a lot of your weight allowance. And if your bag is 10 lbs before you even put anything in it... yeah you are probably going to need wheels!

Hopefully you are a good driver because most people report finding it difficult to navigate with a wide bag.​

Also if you are going outwith the usa 28% of the world's airlines have depth limits smaller that 9 inches and 14% have width limits smaller than 14 inches.​ And because the size in inflexible you are not going to be able to squeeze it to fit.

I don't want to be too down on this bag. Most wheeled garment bags are wide and most are heavy. It is priced reasonably and is well featured.​

You can take up to 3 suits in this and it will keep them largely crease free.​

Samsonite Lift Carry On Garment Bag Review

It's width of 17 inches is over-sized for the majority of airlines so how Samsonite can market this as a "carry on" is hard to fathom.

That said, anecdotal ​evidence suggests that many people are using the Samsonite Lift as carry on luggage without any problems but it's important to note this is not a bag that is likely to comply with airline rules.

It weighs in at a hefty 8.5 lbs (3.85 kg) so don't plan on flying ​in Asia where weight limts are often a paltry 15 lbs or (7 kg). European budget airlines might also present a problem due to weight and sizing limits.

Tumi Alpha 2 Carry-On 4 Wheel Garment Bag Review

Maybe I could have looked past the price... maybe it could have been a contender if it wasn't for the fact that it's half an inch too high and we decided at the outset that a bag that was significantly greater than 22x14x9 inches shouldn't win our top pick.

A great bugbear of other 2 wheeled rolling garment bags is that they can only be rolled facing one direction. And in that direction they are too wide to fit down the aisle.

The whole point of a wheeled bag is that you can roll it and yet when you carry it onto the place you find yourself needing to carry it as you edge your way towards your seat. It kinda defeats the purpose and to do it in the environment where it was supposedly designed for!​ Doh!

The Tumi Alpha 2 featuring 4 wheels has no such problems and this is one the reasons why we loved this bag but the upright design of the Briggs and Riley helps with this problem too.

The second reason is that it's just so damn well constructed. Everything about this bag screams quality... and it should do because take a look at that price tag!

This is a great bag but you need to be a serious full-time suited traveler to think about ​buying this. For an occasional wedding or business trip it's just too pricey. If you spend half your life in U.S. airports wearing a suit then this might be the bag for you.

If you travel internationally you'll really need to keep and eye on the weight it's almost 12 lbs when empty.​

Otherwise for most regular folks it's just a few hundred dollars too expensive.​

Victorinox Werks Traveler 4.0 Wheeled Garment Carry On Review

Victorinox are famous for making those Swiss army knifes armed with hundreds of tiny gadgets that seem like a good idea but in reality you never use. What would they come up with now they've moved on from knifes onto carry on luggage?

Mercury Luggage Executive Series Tri-Fold Garment Bag Review

Customer satisfaction is very high with this bag, with amalgamated ratings from Amazon, Ebags, Zappos, Walmart, Sears resulting is a 92% satisfaction rating.

If I had less than $100 to spend then I'd pick the Mercury Executive it's probably the best carry on garment bag under $100.​ and certainly the best carry on garment bag under $50!

Perhaps when you don't pay so much money for a bag your expectations are lower and it's easier to be satisfied.​

Many people have already invested in a good quality carry on roller but only have occasional use for traveling with garments perhaps to a wedding or business function.

In cases like this a cheaper carry on garment bag is in order and for short infrequent trips you don't go far wrong with the Mercury Executive Series​.

It's lightweight​ and while at 15 inches high it's a little high it can be made to fit as long as it's not packed full.

It's a great international carry on bag for garments as it's only 6.75 inches when folded. Anyone that's traveled in Europe will be familiar with the budget airline Ryanair which is a great option for cheap flights. However their depth limit is only 7.8 inches. Yet a Mercury garment bag will handle this easily.​

U.S. Traveler Ballistic Nylon Tri-fold Carry On Garment Bag Review

And yeah it probably won't last a lifetime... but then in a world where nothing is certain do you want to spend a week if your life working to buy a Tumi or do you want to grab a cheap bag like this and get on the plane!

Many products we use are over priced and over engineered. Let's be honest for a second... if it's a one off trip you could transport your garment in a $0.10 plastic bag and it would probably be okay.

Heck! Push the boat out and use 2 plastic heavy duty refuse sacks for extra protection!

Once you've anchored the price down at $0.20 the $37 U.S. Traveler starts to seem like a luxury. And IT IS a luxury item. Most of the time we're just spoiled!

Unless you are a serious full time suit wearing road warrior then you probably don't need a garment bag that costs hundreds of dollars.

And if you are looking for a cheap option the U.S. Traveler isn't half bad​! It fits, it protects your garments, it's lightweight and it's cheap.

U.S. Traveler Lightweight 21 in. Carry-On Garment Bag

It's quite essentially a polyester version of the U.S. Traveler koshkin bag.

Again it's quite cheap and again there are problems with the zippers staying closed. If you don't tie the zippers yourself the whole duffel section of the bag can fall apart and your underpants could fall out in the aisle.

Yet it's a cheap bag. You can tie the zips using zip ties and lots of people like it. It does a reasonable job of keeping your clothes wrinkle free without breaking the bank.​

Still Haven't Found What You're Looking For? Sorry Bono! Keep Trying!

That's It... Phew! Who Knew That Would Be Such A Monster Post!

So that's the state of play at the moment as far as carry on garment bags are concerned. There is a lot of room for improvement. While there are some great ideas I don't think anyone has quite nailed it on the design side.

It's probably got something to do with the fact that suits and dresses are big and carry on luggage is small.

If you're ready to give up and accept that creasing is a reality we just need to accept then I urge you to check out​ two further areas.

Firstly travel clothes. Cotton is rotten and wool is cool. And it doesn't crease so easily. Wool and Prince make some merino wool dress shirts that will go a long way to easing your shirt creasing problems.

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